It's illegal to be fat in Japan

Thanks for sharing. How'd you get into that country??

Wait, hold on, are we on the same page here? "Resolve the issue of healthcare." I'll resolve it. Give me that money to start a mandatory sterilization clinic for anyone that cannot live up to the responsibilities of society. We'll save thousands, and clear up some space at the same time.

uhhh, they dont follow our Constitution... just saying.

and how do you say this is wrong because it "limits freedom" and is "unconstitutional when you encourage fast food chains to be forced to close down?!oneone1

Your argument could be described two ways. The first of which is linear: Each point you make could only possibly be true if the prior point you made is definitely true. It's like those buildings that sandwich is earthquakes - one floor just falls on another, and another and so on till you only have rubble and many corpses (If it actually was an earthquake, or if you had power to assert your ideas).
The other way is silly: You can't think outside of duality (or your national boundaries without assuming they have the same morals/rights as you).

You speak of eliminating the leading causes of death for Americans as if it was a BAD thing...

yea but,
Obesity and overweight — People who have excess body fat — especially if a lot of it is at the waist — are more likely to develop heart disease and stroke even if they have no other risk factors. Excess weight increases the heart's work. It also raises blood pressure and blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and lowers HDL ("good") cholesterol levels. It can also make diabetes more likely to develop. Many obese and overweight people may have difficulty losing weight. But by losing even as few as 10 pounds, you can lower your heart disease risk.

hahahahaha

The thing is, I agree with you. People should have the freedom to eat garbage, smoke their weed of choice, drive cars, and so on. However, faulting a government for encouraging businesses to promote a healthy weight is just silly. They are not making it illegal to be overweight as the article makes it seem, they are just fining their employers. Strong encouragement, yes, but you are not getting freedoms taken away by it. Maybe their employers should also be taxed for the # of gas vehicles their employees own too. that would certainly reduce emissions.

It's a matter of education. If you are going to pollute your body and the environment, the government has a responsibility to at least educate you on what consequences you face, and take appropriate measures to reduce the massive amount of brainwashing in the form of relentless commercials for these destructive products. It's downright disgusting.

As to your ailment, "A majority of patients with PCOS have insulin resistance and/or are obese. Their elevated insulin levels contribute to or cause the abnormalities seen in the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis that lead to PCOS." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polycystic_ovary_syndrome

It seems like a raw, fruit-based diet would be the route to take to correct the weight and insulin issues causing this disease. Fruit has a low glycemic load and would not cause blood sugar spikes, and a raw diet is even proven to eliminate diabetic's need for supplemental insulin. Wish you good health in the future!

Oh, and so as to not seem a hypocrite, I am currently working towards a fruitarian diet, and a non-car owning bicyclist. My waist is about 28".

Car emissions are only bad because they're taxed. Where the taxes go? Mmm into funding research groups for "climate change". It would be in their interests to find evidence of carbon emission caused climate change, no? For without that there would be no funding for their frivolous and basically flat out false research.
Carbon levels are almost at their lowest in the history of earth (so far as we can measure - and we don't do bad at measuring [soil samples, fossil etc.]) And if you refute that then how do you think all that masses of vegetation came from that give us all our coal etc.? Plants breath carbon dioxide, with that that cannot live.
Every 25 years they change their tune, it went cooling, heating, cooling, heating, and now that the pattern is a little too obvious they just go for "climate change" that ambiguous mysterious fear striking idea of armageddon by our own god-complexed hands.
Ahaha.
Anyway, I'd ride a bike too if I could because those taxes are getting huge. But not because I'm an Al Gore fan who fears man-bear-pig in the night.
(God the Nobel has gone stray eh?)

I am so in favor of it. Fat people are bad people. Bad. They make life worse for everyone else. By being visual pollution. By eating all the food. By costing massive amounts of money to receive healthcare. By costing massive amounts of money in feeding. By making enclosed spaces smell terrible. By breaking things. By having the lard encroach upon their brain so they make terrible choices and mess everything up. By being lazy as hell and not contributing to the productivity of civilization. Obesity is a disease. By saying we shouldn't discriminate is like saying we should let people with active TB run around kissing people on the streets.

Oh, is that all? You've decided to stop making an idiot of yourself? OK. It doesn't matter if you don't like fat people. I don't like fat people. The problem with this is that you are taking away peoples freedom and right to live whatever life they choose. You have no right to dictate to people what they have to eat. If you came into my house and tried to tell me I can't eat meat anymore, I'd ask you once to kindly leave, and if you didn't, I would go upstairs and get a big knife from the kitchen. Once you start to control people's lives in a such a manner, it calls everything else into question. Maybe we should ban alcohol because its so dangerous? Maybe we should make everyone dress a certain way because some people don't like how others look? The logic is the same. I'm sure we could come across one you would disagree with heavily, but you can't have it both ways now can you? Your argument is fucking juvenile, as is your retarded analogy.

Why is your kitchen upstairs? That's weird! However I cant agree more with Adolfius- everything he said is exactly how I feel... I also completely agree with you though, but the problem is that the government should control either everything or nothing- there is no middle ground in a free country. If I am allowed to eat myself to death whilst costing the taxpayers millions to try and keep my worthless fat ass alive so I can continue eating- I should also be allowed to shoot cocaine and bang hookers all night too- As long as I'm not hurting anyone but myself I should be able to do whatever I want, right? Well unfortunately that's not how it works! The government exerts control over every facet of our lives, and until all activities are legal, why shouldn't we try to combat obesity and laziness by imposing restrictions and punishments on those who would overburden our health care system because they're too lazy to go for a walk or too stupid to stop eating mcdonalds for every meal! If obesity is legal then drugs should be legal; if obesity is illegal then so should alcohol and smoking. Its that simple... Not that most of our laws make sense anyway- but until they do I support this initiative for the US!

...uh... I was joking. Mostly I found this funny because it's so bizarre... what are pink people?

I know we can't make it illegal for fat people to comment on whether it's alright to be fat or not... but can we at least discourage it?

The Japanese are quite bigoted. Which is why they never wanted immigration, and why it makes sense they barely have it. It's not like Japan has industrial sectors set up in a way that accommodate mass immigration and cultural immersion, unlike the US's agricultural and manual labor industries, and unlike the US's globally visible culture and language.

But since the population of Japan is now in decline and they have to have immigration, things are going to change. Fortunately, it'll most be a cultural one, albeit slow and painful.

This could possibly be because people in Japan are...well...Japanese...and the thing about Japanese is that they are well...asian. . . -_-

Why does their aversion to immigration make them bigoted? I would sooner call you a bigot for decided someone else is a bigot because they don't do what your country does.
That's their choice. Non american does not equate to bad.
The USA has obliterated cultural diversity between English speaking countries through mass media. Let us not encourage further wanton destruction eh? (bit of a joke there...wonton...wanton...ehehe [yes I realise the wanton is Chinese but I'm white and all Asian nations look similar to me] ).
And as for your idea that they have a nessisity for immigration now I say...ahahehe...AHAHAHAHA....BAHAHAHA.
Japan= Tiny island. Japan = 104.4 Million.
When a population reachs critical mass it ceases to grow. Through artificial support structures (like interstate/international trade) we create precarious balances of inflated populations entirely dependent on transport networks. Trucks stop rolling. Ships stop sailing = massivly limited resources = massive competition = rioting, death, chaos, etc.

I live in New Zealand. We have 4.4 million. We're not that different size from Japan. Mmmm smell that fresh air and self sufficiancy. *Please don't bomb me*

"This could possibly be because people in Japan are...well...Japanese...and the thing about Japanese is that they are well...asian. . . -_-"

You're missing his point, pal. You couldn't say the same thing of, say, England, even though the same logic ought to apply.

Japan =/= Tiny island. Japan =/= 104.4 Million.

I have Japanese family. I know several people who have been to Japan, including an anthropologist who studied culture there. All would agree that bigotry would be a fair word to describe some cultural aspects of Japan. I wasn't saying the aversion to immigration was my only evidence for their bigotry, but is a result of it. As the flow of my thought implied.
I never said non-American was bad, and if anything I implied the opposite.
Your joke would be considered highly insulting by both Japanese and Chinese people.
http://www.japanesestudies.org.uk/discussionpapers/Chapple.html
The number of people and subjective size of the country is irrelevant if it is unable to economically support itself, and since there's a labor shortage, it's not supporting itself. I've never seen or heard any arguments saying Japan has reached a "critical mass," though I've read several arguing that its caused by the highly postindustrial and non-child bearing younger generation of white collar workers in Japan. I thought artificial structures cancel out critical mass, since scarcity of supplies isn't kicking in. Yet. Besides, it seems more likely that the folly that is Late Capitalism will fuck over all of the First World at the same time, not just one of its leading forces.

That's fair enough. No rights infringement there. "You want us to support you, take care of yourself". I like that.

how big is your waist?

awesome *high fives*

yeah it should at least be BMI based.

What say you, Calm Incense?

"What is considered fat by one person could be considered normal by another. Who gets to decide when someone is crossing the line? Who decide where the line is?"

The International Diabetes Federation, that's who. It doesn't give a damn what's "normal" - only what's healthy.

"If I am rich and I want to be fat and pay for my own health care, who the fuck are you to legislate my weight."

Right on.

I would much rather be living than dying of heart disease.

"That is so much political propaganda. Fat is beautiful."

"Fat is beautiful"? Now THAT sounds like politically correct propaganda if ever I've heard it.

Some people hide their discrimination of fat people by claiming heart disease is caused exclusively by being overweight. Alcohol and cigarettes do a lot of damage to people's hearts and lungs that being overweight doesn't.

Why don't you go pick on anorexia?

When 26% of Americans are anorexic, I'll pick on anorexia.

calm_incense, why "pick on" anybody? What is this - grade school?

I was hoping you'd have the capacity to realize for yourself, but I wasn't "picking on" anyone. You came up with the terminology yourself, and I just went along with it for consistency's sake.

Neither is the Japanese government "picking on" fat people. If you think enacting health incentives is comparable to grade school bullying, well, I'd take those bullies over the traditional kind any day.

actually, calm_incense, you picked up "pick on" from jubal's post, not mine. It just seems juvenile to pursue that line.

My point that I was keeping it for the sake of logical flow still stands.

You can't find me actually "picking on" fat people here, in any of my comments. I would hope that much would be self-evident, regardless of the terminology I use.

You are completely misinformed and your prejudices are bulging through the discussion. There are some correlations between obesity and disease but if you look below at the sources I provided you will see that very recent studies are disproving that there is a direct link between "big" size and risk of health.

Overweight people are an easy target though.

Ugh, the posters on this website have been becoming so much more over critical and intolerant recently.

"Please try giving up YOUR addiction (whatever it may be: texting, substances, sex, gaming, exercising, etc.) before lashing out at the ones with the very visible outcome of theirs."

I don't have any of those addictions. I therefore claim the right to "lash out" at fat people.

calm incense, you are to be commended on your clean living. Are you one of the lucky few, or are there things that you have or had to work on?

It's not "luck". That's kind of like saying a murderer was one of the "unlucky ones" with a natural propensity for killing people, whereas non-murderers are just lucky bastards who got off easy and don't know what it's like to desire the smell of fresh blood.

Obviously, murder has much more drastic social implications, but it all relates to maintaining personal control over one's unhealthy urges.

Lmao. The Japanese people have the highest life expectancy in the world. If that's not a measure of good "actual health", I don't know what is.

Uh...the UK is the third fattest major country in the world, behind only the US and Mexico.

Might want to pick another example.

...encouraging them to be healthy?

I was thinking more along the lines of taking away their freedom.

Fat people sensitive? Only as a defense mechanism to the mean comments and ostracization by the other half.

@ maisry:

*sniff sniff*

yes, fat is wack, just like any addiction, i believe it's disturbing and a slow suicide. it doesn't benefit anyone. it doesn't benefit the persons health, or mood. If they have kids, their children wont have a good role model, or a parent at all..because it kills. (i personally know how much it sucks because i lost my own 49 yr old father to obesity) And I will continue to stand up for good pro-health and not enable fat people because they are sensitive. i will not tip toe around their feelings, i wont. so get over it. thats all. for now.